Automatic weighing-machine.



PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903.

O. T. BROWN.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, 12. 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTE!) NGV. l?, 1903.

C. T. BROWN. AUTUMAIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED MARIS, 1903.

|S FEVER; CG. DHQTVALIYND4 WAS'UNG'HJN P C N0 MODEL.

Wmwsss.

N0 MODEL.

W Lnassa@ z No. 744,162. hEATENTED NOV. 17, w03. G. T. BROWN.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED HAR. 12, 190s.

4 SHEETS-SHEETS.

5 State of Illinois,

3o matic weighing-niachine- 4o cent thereto.

UNITED STATES Patented November i7', 1903i.

PATENT Ormes.

CHARLES TURNER BRONN, OF CHICAGO, ILINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WlLlilAll/l F.GRO`WER, OF CHCAGO, lLLlNOlS.

AUTOMATlC WElGl-llNG-itiACl-HN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,162, dated November17, 1903.

Serial No. 147.462. (No model-l To @Z5 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that h CHARLES TURNER BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in thexlzounty of Cook and have .invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automatic vWeighing-lilffichines, ofwhich the following, when taken in connection with the drawingsaccompanying and forming a part hereof, is

to a full and complete description suicient to enable those skilled inthe art to which it pertains to understand, make, and use the same.

Yrlhisinvention relates to improvements on the automatic`weighing-machine for which t Letters Patent of the United States wereissued tof Eugene H. Macoy and Frank R. Sleeper, dated the 4th day ofMarch, 1902, on the invention of George W. Lottridge; and the object ofthis invention is to increase zo the eniciency ol" the automaticweighingniachine set. out and described in said Letters Patent, torender the action thereof more uniform in weighing,r certain kinds ofmaterial-as, say, coffee-and to obtain a more 25 durable and sightlymachine.

In the drawings hereinbefore referred to, Figure l is a side elevationof an automatic weighing-machine embodying this invention, and Fig. 2 isa front elevation of such auto- Fig. 3 is a top plan View ot` a U-shapedpiece, duplicates whereof are adj ustably attached to theweighing-buckets of the apparatus, such U-shaped piece forming theconnection between the re- 35 spective buckets and the weighing-beams ofthe apparatus. Fig. t is a front elevation, .on an enlarged scale, of alatch and release fcraning elements of the machine embodying theinvention, showing also the parts adja- Fig. 5 is a side elevation, onan enlarged scale, of a fulcrumed lever and counterweight thereonforming an element in the machine. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of Aone ofthe weighing-beams of the apparatus.

45 Fig. 7 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of, the lower endof one of the load-receivers of 'the machine with the latchingr-leversthereon and the abutments adjacent thereto, by means of lwhich suchlevers are 5o operatedP Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional View,

.on an enlarged scale, of latching mechanism attached to theload-receiver whereby the ad-A justed capacity of such load-receiver ismaintained, such ligure also showing a short section ot the rear wall ofthe load-receiver and of the movable abutment within the load-receiver.Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the latch shown in Fig. 8, with ahorizontal sectional view of a portion of the rear wall of theloadrec'eiver and of a portion ofthe movable abutment within theload-receiver which is controlled by such latch. Fig. l0 is a top planview of a portion of a horizontal bar which is rigidly attached to thestandard of the machine with a part of an adjustable bar secured to suchrigidly-attached bar. Fig. 1i is a horizontal sectional View, on anenlarge( scale, on line ll ll of Fig. 4, of a connectior shown in Fig.4, such connection consisting of a vertical adjustable rod and a dogactu ated thereby.

A reference-letter applied to designate given part is used to indicatesuch par throughout the several figures of the draw ings whereverthesame appears.

A is the standard on which the severa parts of the machine aresupported.

o, is a cross-bar of standard A.

B is a horizontal bar rigidly secured, as b; bolt b, to standard A.

C is an abutment on the horizontal bar E provided with a V-shaped face.

D is the lweighing-beam of the machine and E is a knife-edge rigidlysecured to th weighing-beam Dsuch knife-edge E forming in connectionwith the abutment C, the fu crum ot the weighing-beam.

F is a counte'rweight on weighing-beam I The counterweight F is securedin a dete mined position on the weighing-beam D l; means of theset-screwfand hinding-nutj To slightly vary the quantity of materi.weighed in the load-receivers of the appar tus, adjustable nutsfgf2 areplaced on tl screw f3 on weight F. (See Fig'. l.)

G C are buckets forming the load-receive of the apparatus, and g g arethe covers buckets G, such covers being hinged to tl buckets by the wireg'. The buckets Gr a attached to the forked end d of the weighin beam Dby adj ustably attaching` the U -shap piece H to such buckets G andsecuring t abutment I to the U-shapcd piece Il, so'that the Vshaped baseon the under side of such abutment I will rest on the knife-edge oftheabutment .I on the fork (Z of the Weighingbeam D. The U-shaped `piece His made ad- ,instable on the bucket G by making slots (lettered h) inthe ends of the U-shaped piece and passing the set-screw h' therethroughand into the plate K, secured on the side of the buckets. Abntnlent I issecured to the U- shaped piece by means of the set-screw t'. Abutmeut Jis secured to the weighing-beam D by means of set-screwj. The buckets Gare preferably made of sheet metal, and hence to obtain a base intowhich the set-screw h' may be screwed I use the plate K, Fig. .1.

To vary the capacity of the bucket G, I place therein the movableabutments L L'. The abutment L is pivotaliy connected at its upper` end,as by pivot Z, to the bucket. The abutments L L' are pivotally joinedtogether, as by Wire Z', Fig. l, and the lower end of the abutment L'allowed to rest on the inclined back of such bucket G, as is indicatedby the broken lines lettered Z2 in Fig. 1. To control the position ofthe movable abntments L L', the handle L2, Figs. 1, 8, and 9, isattached to the wire Z', which joins the abutments L L' together, andsuch handle is extended out from such wire Z through slot Z3 in the rearwall of the bucket G.

M is an abutment rigidly secured to the rear Wall of the bucket G.

N is a tube rigidly secured in abutment M, so as to extend below suchabutment and a short distance above it.

n is a rod longitudinally* movable in tube N. Rod nis provided with headn' at the upper end thereof and head n2 at its lower end.

n3 is a spring on tube N, yieldingly holding the head n' closeA tocontact with the upper face of the handle L2. The handle L2 is providedwith a slot Ni, (see Figs. 8 and 9,) and the edges of such slot arecorrugated to proximately fit the periphery of the portion of the tube Nwhich extends above the abutment M. By this construction the handle L2may be moved longitudinally by simply raising the free end thereof, andthereby raising the head 'n' of the rod n, and when the handle isadjusted it is heldin position by lowering it onto the 'tube N, so thatsuch tube is in the corrugations in slot N2. The handle L2 is maintainedin its adjusted position by the head n' of rod n becauseof theresiliency of spring ns in contact with head n.

O, Figs. l and 7, is an abutment. rigidly attached to the rear wall ofthe bucket G, near the lower end thereof,'and P is a shaft extendingthrough abutment O. l 4

P' is a latch provided with shu-lderp, pivotally mounted on the shaft P.Zhen the bucket G has its cover g closed, the shoulder p engages withthe abutment P2 on such cover and holds itlatched in its closedposition. To 'unlatch the cover, (when a load is contained realce in thebucltet,) I secure horizontal bar P" in an adjusted position relative tothe bucket, so that as the bucket with its load descends the lever orlatch P' is brought into contact therewith before the bucket has reachedits extreme depressed position, and such end of the latch is therebyraised off from engagement with the shoulder P2.

P5 is a horizontal bar attached to standard A, and P4 is a vertical baradjustably secured in bar P5 by nuts p p2 on screw-threads p3. Bar P3 isrigidly attached to vertical bar P4. When the end of the latch P' whichis adjacent to the bar P3 is brought into contact therewith in thedescent of the loaded. bucket G and raised relative to the abutment P2on cover g so as to be out of engagement therewith, the contents of thebucket will open the cover and ilow from the bucket. To maintain thecover g open so that all the contents of the bucket G may flowtherefrom, latch P6 is pivot-ally mounted on shaft P, and such latch isprovided with the shoulder p4 to engage with the lower end of theabutment Pi, as is illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. To release thelatch PG from engagement with the lower end of abutment P2 as the bucketG is about to regain its raised and load-receiving position, (andthereby permit cover g to c1ose,) I provide the abutment pi on standardA, into engagement with which abutment the cndp6 of the latch P6 isbrought during the ascent of such bucket. The under side of latch PG iscurved adjacent to the shoulder p4, so that as the cover g closes theend of the latch resting thereon is raised and the end pfcorrespondingly depressed, such depression being sufficient to takeisuchend p" out of contact with abutment p5 when the cover g is closed andthe bucket raised to receive a load. Bucket G is prevented from swingingor swaying in fork (Z of weighingbeam D by connecting-link Q, such linkbeing pivotally attached to standard A. at end q thereof and to abutmentQ at end q'. Abutment Q' is secured to bucket G.

S S are levers pivoted to frame A, as at S3 S3, and S'2 S2 areadjustable weights ou levers S S, respectively.

To obtain uniform weights from this machine, it is necessary to obviatemovement or jar of the bucket G in fork d of the weighing-beam D as muchas possible, and to this end I have so constructed the machine as tomake connection between the weighted end of the weighing-beam D and thelevers S S (lettered F and F' in Letters Patent No. 69,487) insteadofmaking such connection at the load-receiving end of the weighingbeam,(as is done in such Letters Patent.)

IOO

rllhisconnection comprises fulcrumed lever R, Figs. l and 5, connectionT4, and pin T5.

Tis au abutment rigidly secured to standard A., and T' is an adjustablebar on bar T. BarT' is maintained in an adjusted position by the screwst t.

T2 is an abutment provided with the V- shaped face at its upper end,inwhich the knife-edge T3 is fulcrumed.

t' is a set-screw by means of which theabutmont T2 is att-ached to theadjustable bar T'.

vl',2 l?, Fig. 5, are broken lines indicating guards which maintain theknife-edge 'i"" in place in the V at the upper end of the abutment T2.Knife-edge T3 is rigidly secured to the bar R, (heretofore termed aLlever.) Bar or lever R is attached to the pivoted bar S by theadjustable connection T4, such acjustment being secured by theturnbuclrle T7.' Lever R is connected to the weighingbeam D by pin T5 onthe weighing-beam in slot 'l'6 in lever R. t

R is a counter-weight on lever lt.

By the connections last above described between the weighing-beam l) andthe lever S the weighing-beam `is entirely lree from connection with thelever "Rt when the bucket Gr is in a raised and load-receiving positionuntil load-receiving end (the fork fl) of the weighing-beam descendssufficiently to raise the pin T5 so yas to come in contact with the topof the slot T, (see Figs. 1 and 5,) and a sensitive scale is thusobtained. Continued downward movement ot the load-receiving end of theweighing-beam D (and consequent further upward movement of thc weightedend of the weighingbeam) moves upward therewith the slotted end ot thelever R, thus producing downward movement o the end of such lever R,which is connected (by means ot` the adjustable connection T4) with thelever S.

Before proceeding to describe the action obtained by the lastabove-described down- Ward movement ot the connecting-link T1, l willdescribe the improved construction invented or discovered by nie-of themechanism maintaining the levers S S in operative posi- -tion andreleasing such levers from such operative position. To this end lprovide the pivoted lever U, attached to the cross-arm (t of standard Aby the post it, and the latch or dog IU', also pivotally attached tosuch crossarm a, as by pivot or post n', to engage with the end u2 ofthe pivoted lever U, and i provide the shoulder its on the pivoted leverU adjacent to the pivot thereof to forro a step on which `the shouldera5 of the latch U2 may rest. The latch U2 is pivotally connected to thelever S by the screw ai.

is a shoulder on latch U2, which is brought into engagement with theshoulder a3 on the lever U when the lever S is in an operative position.

V is an arm extending out from the dog U', and V' is an arm on theconnection T4, coming into engagement with the arm V when connection T4is drawn downward, thereby drawing the dog U' bach from engagement with.the end n2 of lever U, thus releasing the lever U, whereupon the weightot the lever S and the latch U2 will canse the lever U to turn on itspivot n from the position thereof illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawingsinto substantially the position thereof illustrated in Fig. e oi' thedrawings, at which time the shoulder 11F will slide off the step formedby the shoulder n on such lever l, thereby releasing the latch U2 andpermitting the lei/cr S to fall l'roni the operativo position thereoi'iilustrated in 2 of the drawings into the position thereof illustratedin Fig. l ot' the drawings. is the lever S tells it tends to force theconnection T down and so depress the end ot the lever R connectedthereto and raise the slotted end ot' such lever R against the pin onweighing-beam D, thus tending to raise the 'weight F on suchweighingrbeam and to accelerate the movement ot such weigl'iing-bearn inthe direction caused by the load contained in the descending bucket G.Sufficient downward movement ofthe connection 'lAl to release the dog``U from lever ll is provided by placing the bent end ot' such connectionT4 in slot S'. Before the leverS is drawn down by the connection T tothe bottom ot such slot S the latch has been operated. ln this machine,as in the machine set out, described, and claimed in Lettei-s Patent No.CMAS?, the article to be weighed is continuously delivered into aswinging hopper,(here in lettered W,) the position ot' such swinginghopper being determined by the levers S S.

W' is a wire attached to the hopper il? and extending therefrom, so thatits ends are underneath the receiving-levers S S. (See Fig. l ot `thedrawings.)

The material delivered from the discharge end of the swinging hopper YVis received in the stationary hopper W2, provided with a plurality ofdepending spouts, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and arrangedso that one or the other of the buckets G @will receive such material,according to the position of the swinging hopper W. To yieldinglymaintain the swinging hoppper )V in the position thereof in which it isset by the descending one ot the levers S S, l provide the arm W3, withweight W4 thereon, to swing on shatter pivot W5 (substantially in axialline ot the pivotal supports W6 of the swinging hopper) and secure theabutment WT, provided with slot W8, to the swinging hopperW, so thatsuch leverW'd extends through such slot WS, the slot being ot sufficientlength4 so that when the swinging hopper is moved from one to the otherot its positions the weight N4 will be thereby carried over its center.Such weight will then fall as far as the slot will permit it, thusholding the swinging hopper more securely in position than if such lever1il/v8 is rigidly attached to the swinging hopper. The flow of materialthrough the swinging hopper tends to move it from a set position, and lhave found it very advantageous to obtain the stability secured to suchswinging hopper by the construction ot the lever W3 and its connectionto the swinging hopper herein described. The material which is weighedpasses into the automatic Weighing-machine embodying this invention in acontinuous stream, and there is in the practical operation of themachine a fsuspended stream, as it is termed in the art, which extendsfrom the discharge end of the movable hopper W' to the upper surface orso much of the material which is being weighed as 'rests in the bucketGf, (and causes the bucket to descend,) and hence when the movableabutments L L' iu such bucket are adjusted to raise or lovver the uppersurface ot' the quantity of material contained in the bucket, which issufficient to cause such bucket to descend, the length of the suspendedstream is thereby varied, and a variation in the quantity of materialdelivered from the bucket is thereby produced. lt therefore occurs thata change in Ithe adjustment of the movable abntments L L' by means ofthe handle L2, as hereinbefore described, will produce a variation inthe quantity of material discharged from a given bucket in precisely thesame manner as a change in the adjustment ot' the Weights ff2 onscrevvfs Will produce such a variation, and hence to that extent thefunction of the mov able abutments L L is the same as is the function ofsuch Weightsfz. In addition to the last above described function of themovable abntments L L such abutments serve to maintain a suspendedstream of a determined length in cases where the specific gravity of thematerial being weighed varies, as is the casein different brands ofcoffee and even in different roasts of the same brand.

The operation of this automatic Weighingmachine is substantially thesame as is the operation of the machine set out in Letters Patent No.694,487, hereinbefore referred to, and,brieiiystated,isasfollows:Aidescending stream of the material to be weighed continuously flowsthrough the swinging hopper W' and is therefrom successively dischargedinto the depending spouts W2 W2 and from thence deposited in theloadreceivers, (buckets G 'GJ and When a suiicient quantity of materialis deposited in either of such buckets the bucket descends, turning thelever D on its fulerum E, thereby raising the Weight F. Pin T" on suchle ver D is thereby raised, and When such pin is raised a sufficientdistance to come in contact with the upper edge of Slot T in lever R thelever R is thereby lturned on its fulcrnm T3, and the connection T isthereby drawn downward, the drawing down of the connection Ti carryingtherewith the arm V', which is in engagement with arm V, and so turnsthe dog U' on its post or pivot u' out of engagement with the end u2 ofthe lever U. Upon the release of the end u2 of lever U, as last abovedescribed, such lever is turned on its pivot or post u by the Weight otthe lever S and latch U2, (resting on'step 168,) and such latch willslip ofi' of the step n3, and thereupon the lever S will fall, and theblovv of its fall will be received on the upper end of the connectionT4, thereby forcing such connection down, together with the end of thelever R, to which suoli connection is attached. The slotted end of suchlever lt is thereby raised, so that the lower edge of the slot T in suchlever is brought into contact with the under side of the pin 'i on loverD, pressing upward on such pin, thereby tending to maintain the weightedend of such lever D raised and Athe forked end of such lever (containingbucket depressed. 'lhe descent ct' the bucket G is thus accelerated bythe lever S, and in its descent the latches ly P are brought intocontact with the horizontal bar P3, and such latches are loosened,permitting the cover g ot the bucket G to open. Such cover will beopened by the contents of the bucket and will be held open by latch PG,as hereinbefore described, until the bucket has nearly regained itsupward and load-receiving position. As the bucket ascends to itsload-receiving position and the weight F descends to regain the positionthereof in which it is illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings the leverltis thereby turned on its fnlcrum T3 and connection T4 and lever S isagain raised to its elevated and operative position. ln the raising otthe connection T4 the dog U will regain a position engaging with the endu2 of the lever U, and such lever U Will be thereby locked insubstantially the position thereof illustrated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, and so that the shoulder n.5 on latch U2 will engage with (torest on) the step n3 of such lever U, and thereby such lever S will bemaintained in a raised position until the dog U' is again moved ont ofengagement with the end u? of the lever U by the bucket G againdescending, as before stated. The lever S in its descent as abovedescribed, in addition te accelerating the movement of the weighing beamD will engage with the wire W', and will thereby turn or rock themovable hopper W', so that such hopper will discharge into the other oneof the buckets G G.

'lhe abovedescribed operation is repeated so long as the iiovf ofmaterial is continued into and through the movable hopper Vif.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In the Weighing-bucket of an automatic weighing machine, movableabutments, a handle attached to the movable abutments, such handleextending through one of the Walls of the bucket and provided with aslot having corrugated side edges, an abutment on the outside of thebucket, a projection on the abutment, such projection extending throughthe slot in the handle, a spring on the projection underneath theabutment and a rod extending through the projection, such springabutting against the rod and such rod provided with a head yieldinglyholding the handle in place With the projection in the slot of thehandle, substantially as described.

2. ln an automatic weighing-machine, a

fnlcrnmed Weighingbeam, a load receiver and a counterweight on theWeighing-beam, a pivotedlever, means forlatchino; such pivoted lever inan operative position, a i'nlcrumed bar, a connection between one end oithe fnlcrnmed bar and thc pivoted lever and between such fulcrnmed harand the latching mechanism and a connectionl between the otherend of thefulcrumed bar and the weighing-beam, such last-named connection made atthe point on the Weighing-beam between the fulcrnin thereof and thecounterweight thereon,,substantially as described.

. 3. In an automatic weighing-machine a fnlcrnmed Weighing-beam, andWeighing-bucket and a connterweieht'on the wei0hin0'beam a projection onthe Weighing-beam between thev fulcrnin 'thereof and the countervveightthereon, pivotcd levers, latches maintaining the levers in an operativeposition, a tulcrnmed bar, a connection between one end of theful'crumed bar and the pivoted lever, and also between such end of thefnlcrumed bar and the latches maintaining the pivoted lever inanoperative position, snch' fulcrnmed bar provided' With a slot near oneend thereof in which slot the projection on the weighingbeam fitsloosely, to move such fnlcrnmed bar after the Weighing-beam has moved adetermined distance; substantially as described.

Vet. In an automatic weighing-machine, the combination of a pivotedlever, an arm at- `tached to the pivoiedlever, such arm provided with ashoulder, a movable step with which, ivhen in one of itsA positions,snch shoulder engages to hold the pivoted leverin an operative position,and with which, when in another of its positions, such shoulder will notengage and when in engagement will be released therefrom, means to hold.the step in an engaging position, and means to release it from suchengaging position, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic Weighing-machine the combination of a pivoted leverprovided with a slot therein, an arm attached to tbe pivoted lever, sucharm provided with a shoulder, an additional pivoted lever, a dog toengage with the additional lever and maintain it in a determinedposition and to disengage ironi the ni'lditional lever and permitmovement thereof, such additional lover provided with n shoulder on oneend thereof to form a stop on which the shoulder on the arm of thetiret-named vpivoied lever may rest, a vertically-movable connectionfitting loosely in thc slot of the .tiret-named lever, and a connectionbetween the vcrtieally-movable connection and the dog' to release thedog from engagement with the lever adjacent thereto on the downwardmovement of the vertical connection; enbstantially described.

d. The combination, with a weighing-beam provided with a load-receiverand a counterivcight, of afnlcrnmed bar, a connection between one endofthe fnlcrnmed bar and the weighing beam adjacent to the counterweight,a pivoted lever, a latch to the pivoted lever, anda connecting-linkbetween the remaining end of the fnlcrnmed bar and the nivoted lever;`the Weighing-beam, the fulcrnined bar, the pivoted lever, the latch andthe connecting-link, relatively positioned so that when a load is placedin the load-receiver the Weighing-beam is free to move a short distancebefore engagement with the fnlcrumed bar, and the fnlcrnmed bar andconnecting-link are free to jointly move a short distance to act-natethe latch and release the pivoted lever before engagement of suchpivoied lever with such connectinglink to accelerate the downwardmovement of the load-receiver end of the weighingbeam; substantially asdescribed..

7. The combination, with a weighing-beam 7 provided with a load-receiverand a counter- Weiglit,ofafulcrumed-barprovided withaslot therein, aprojection on the Weighing-beam itting loosely in the slot in thefulcrnined bar, such projection forming a connection betvreen one end ofthe fnlcrnmed bar and the veieifrhi11g-beam 'adjacent to thecounterweight, a pivoted lever, an adjustable connecting-link betweenthe remaining end of the fnlcrnmcd bar and the pivoted lever;substantially as described.

CHARLES TURNER BROWN. ln presence ofW HENRY J. Pierce, T. G-.Knnrrs

